Creator of Human Bodies: The god Khnum – Egyptian Myths and Legends

Khnum was one of the earliest-known Egyptian deities, originally the god of the source of the Nile. Since the annual flooding of the Nile brought with it silt and clay, and its water brought life to its surroundings, he was thought to be the creator of the bodies of human children, which he made at a potter’s wheel, from clay, and placed in their mothers’ uterus’s. This description is most certainly ancient artificial insemination. He later was described as having moulded the other deities, and he had the titles “Divine Potter” and “Lord of created things from himself” The worship of Khnum centred on two principal riverside sites, Elephantine and Esna, which were regarded as sacred sites. At Elephantine, he was worshipped alongside Anuket and Satis as the guardian of the source of the Nile River. His significance led to early theophoric names of him, for children, such as Khnum-Khufwy “Khnum is my Protector” the full name of Khufu, builder of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Both Khnum and Neith are referred to as creator deities in the texts at Esna.
Khnum is sometimes referred to as the “father of the fathers” and Neith as the “mother of the mothers” They later become the parents of Ra, who is also referred to as Khnum-Re. Khnum was the moulder and creator of the human body, he was sometimes regarded as the consort of Heket, or of Meskhenet, whose responsibility was breathing life into children at the moment of birth, as the ka” In art, Khnum was usually depicted as a ram-headed man at a potter’s wheel, with recently created children’s bodies standing on the wheel, although he also appeared in his earlier guise as a water-god, holding a jar from which flowed a stream of water. Please, share, like comment and subscribe for more information on many Egyptian gods and goddesses and many more from the Myths and Legends all over the world at mythology explored by ANCIENT MYSTERY on Youtube.